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Students and dissertation Chairs are required to communicate are required to communicate with their committee about which format will be used, and clarify expectations regarding and clarify expectations regarding the format chosen. After the dissertation proposal defense, changing from one format to the other requires the requires the consent of the full dissertation committee.

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Students complete their dissertation proposal under the supervision of their dissertation supervisor.  Generally, the dissertation proposal consists of the first three chapters of the dissertation: Introduction, Literature Review, and Method. Dissertations in the Department of Educational Psychology are written in accordance with APA style. A source for the dissertation process is Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish, by Cone and Foster (1996), available at www.apa.org. This book guide students through selecting a topic, choosing committee members, writing a proposal, and making it though the dissertation defense. 

Introduction – The first chapter should explain why your study is necessary, and should be about 10 pages. 

Literature Review

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– When working on this chapter (20-40 pages)

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Method – This section is 10-20 pages and presents your methodology.

Dissertations in the Department of Educational Psychology are written in accordance with APA style.  

When the dissertation supervisor and committee agree that the proposal is close to completion, the student should schedule the dissertation proposal meeting and send a copy of the proposal to the members at least two weeks prior to the meeting date.

The dissertation proposal meeting is an examination of the proposal and proposed study by the committee as a whole.  It is also a collaborative work session in which potential problems in the proposal can be faced and addressed.   It might help to think of the dissertation committee as the board of directors who are approving the proposed project.  You have named them to your board because of their expertise to advise you, which means they are likely to have some ideas for revision of your proposed dissertation summary.  Occasionally, the dissertation committee will view the revisions necessary to the proposal to be substantial, and the members will request a second dissertation proposal meeting.  More commonly, the outcome of this meeting will be approval of the dissertation proposal with revisions that should be documented by the student and the supervisor.

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It is extremely important for all committee members to be present at the proposal meeting because as that is where agreements are made for finalizing your dissertation.  If a member cannot participate, then it's the responsibility of the student and supervisor to ensure that the missing member has all the information from the meeting, and that the missing member's feedback is incorporated as you move forward. 

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The completed Dissertation Proposal Meeting Form is turned in submitted to the EDP Graduate Coordinator Department after the proposal meeting.   It will include information regarding the success of your proposal, or any conditions you must satisfy.This form documents the results of your Proposal Meeting.  

Dissertation Enrollment

While working on the dissertation, you must remember to complete all remaining departmental and area of specialization requirements, as well as to register continuously for the dissertation hours during all long semesters until you graduate (summer . Summer registration in dissertation is also required if: your faculty adviser believes it necessary, if you will hold your proposal meeting in the Summer, or if you will graduate during the summer). An excellent source for the dissertation process is Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish, by Cone and Foster (1996), available at www.apa.org. This book guide students through selecting a topic, choosing committee members, writing a proposal, and making it though the dissertation defense. 

Use of Human Subjects and the Institutional Review Board

With After approval from your committee at the dissertation proposal Dissertation Proposal meeting, you are ready to carry through carry through with original data collection and analyses for your dissertation. It is expected that you will continue will continue to do so under the close supervision of your dissertation supervisor.  Under most circumstancesmost circumstances, students are not allowed to begin original data collection in connection with their dissertation until dissertation until they have conducted a successful dissertation proposal meeting.

If you are using existing data for which you have IRB approval, you are welcome to conduct preliminary data analysis on your expected topic of research prior to holding your proposal meeting. Indeed, such familiarity with your data should allow you to discuss your dissertation plans more completely and confidently.  Please note that this policy encourages preliminary data analysis, not a fishing expedition for significant outcomes. Examples of acceptable preliminary data analyses include, but are not necessarily limited to, descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations, ranges, graphical displays, correlations), outlier diagnostics, missing data diagnostics, and assumption checking. Students should not test proposed hypotheses prior to the proposal meeting, however. Additionally, students should be prepared to modify their data analysis work should weaknesses be found during the proposal meeting.

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• Exempt (Minimal Risk – subject to expedited IRB review procedures)
• Expedited (Minimal Risk – subject to expedited IRB review procedures)
• Full Board (More than Minimal Risk -- subject – subject to Full Board review and limited meetings)

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If your project must receive Full Board review, other deadlines apply.  The University’s IRB meets once a month for Full Board reviews, and the deadline for submission of materials is very strict and well in advance of the meeting.  If revisions are necessary, a second IRB review will take place, according to a set meeting schedule.  For questions about deadlines, email the Office of Research Support and Compliance or call 471-8871.

Departmental Subject Pool

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